"We are not from Zhongnan."

At my words, the wary warriors furrowed their brows.

We weren't meant to fight them anyway.

Didn't they say the enemy of my enemy is my friend?

"Sheathe your swords."

At my command, my tense junior disciples hesitated before putting their swords away.

When we showed no intention of attacking, the warriors also began to lower their guard one by one.

"Why did you guys come out of there? And what's with that state?"

Still suspicious, a warrior threw a question at us.

But was our state really that bad?

I turned my head and examined my junior disciples.

... It was serious.

"Ahem, we were originally heading for another cave and ended up coming this way."

It was a ridiculous excuse even to my own ears, but what else could I do when I had nothing else to say right now?

I had no choice but to make a suitable excuse.

But it seemed to have worked.

"Looks like they went out of greed and suffered terribly."

"They aren't from Zhongnan, so there's no need to fight them."

"Finding the spiritual elixir is our priority right now."

The warriors surprisingly accepted it without a fuss and soon began to lose interest in us.

They were all too busy pulling out the Beggars' Sect's maps from their clothes to find the way.

"I'm telling you, we need to go this way!"

"No! That's not where it appeared before!"

"Then you go that way yourself!"

While they were busy trying to find the way, we appropriately blended into the crowd.

A bit of color returned to Dongryong's face as well.

As the urgency faded slightly, the appearance of the people began to catch my eye.

But why were these bastards so clean?

Forget bloodstains, not a single one of them had a speck of dirt on them.

'Did they really not run into any Zhongnan bastards on their way here?'

Only then did I understand why they hadn't been very wary despite us strangers appearing.

Having only traveled a comfortable path, their guard couldn't help but naturally loosen.

"Eldest Senior Brother, it seems they haven't fought a single battle yet. Perhaps that's why they let their guard down so quickly."

As expected of Eunho. He figured it out at once.

I should praise him...

"If we knew it would be like this, was there really a need to enter from the opposite side?"

Huh?

Did he just dare to give his Eldest Senior Brother attitude?

I must punish a naughty boy.

"Eunho."

At my voice, his shoulders flinched.

Tsk tsk, look at how fragile his shoulder line still is.

What is a swordsman to do with such weak shoulders?

I smiled and pulled two iron rings out of my bundle, handing them to Eunho.

"Wear them."

"... I'm sorry..."

"Yeah, whatever. Wear them."

His eyes trembled before he soon clenched his fists tight.

"Is there any meaning in adding iron rings when we aren't even using a moving cultivation art? It doesn't seem logically sound."

Wow, he really makes a good point.

That's why.

"Do you want to take an illogical beating?"

"..."

In the end, Eunho took the iron rings.

He seemed to debate whether to put them on his feet or his hands, and eventually added the iron rings to his ankles.

Well, it wasn't like he'd struggle with just that much weight.

I looked around again.

For now, it was important to hide our bodies within the crowd.

With this many people watching, Zhongnan wouldn't be able to act recklessly either.

After giving an order to my junior disciples with a nod, I was just about to blend deeper into the crowd when...

"... Huh?"

I bumped into the person I least wanted to meet right now.

Hah, seriously.

"Representative Jin, why are you here?"

Why was this bastard Cheol Sunjik so clueless?

Did he not know when to butt in and when to stay out?

I lowered my voice to avoid causing a commotion and answered.

"Ahem, it just ended up that way. But didn't the Jukhyeon Gang say they weren't coming in..."

"... Don't tell me."

Now he's even cutting me off.

Ignoring my words, Cheol Sunjik looked us up and down and was appalled.

"Did you break a hole in the opposite side to enter and end up all the way here?"

Fuck, this is why I hate quick-witted bastards.

I was about to feign ignorance when...

"No, it's not like I came right in after breaking the entrance..."

"... As expected, you were the one who broke open the new entrance, Representative Jin."

Aaaaargh!

I had just confessed out of my own mouth that I broke the hole.

Perhaps because my brain had stalled due to the damn Zhongnan experts, I completely failed to see through the insidious intentions hidden in Cheol Sunjik's words.

It was do or die now.

"So what, are you going to tell Zhongnan?"

Since I couldn't cause a scene, I quietly pulled the Black Dragon Sword out halfway and glared at Cheol Sunjik.

"... This isn't like you, Representative Jin. Resorting to threats."

If you play me for a fool, then I'll become a thug too.

"I asked if you were going to tell Zhongnan."

"My entering this place in the first place was done without obtaining Zhongnan's permission."

Ah, come to think of it, that made sense.

Zhongnan would surely love seeing a disciple of the Jukhyeon Gang, who was supposed to be blocking other warriors at the newly opened entrance, inside Cheondong Cave.

As my excitement subsided slightly and a chill filled my head, my reason slowly returned.

"What gave you the guts to come in here?"

At my question, Cheol Sunjik took on a rather complicated expression.

"... I came in because there was something I wanted to see."

"Something you wanted to see?"

A rather serious voice.

"There is such a thing."

He's acting all serious for nothing.

The only things to see inside Cheondong Cave—where a bloodbath between the warriors and Zhongnan was bound to happen—were blood and corpses, wasn't it?

I really could never understand what goes on in the heads of these insidious bastards.

"Then you didn't come looking for the spiritual elixir?"

"... It wasn't something I could have just by wanting it in the first place, was it?"

Cheol Sunjik furrowed his brow heavily as if fed up with my question.

"If you could get it, would you take it?"

"... What are you talking about?"

But I didn't believe him.

Among those who had cultivated internal energy and wielded weapons, how many could truly remain indifferent with a spiritual elixir right in front of them?

That was why.

"Do a job with me."

"..."

It was better to just use him.

"If we succeed, I'll give you five pun of the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Milk."

"... What are you plotting this time?"

"There's a bit of a bothersome guy chasing after me from behind. Block him for me."

Cheol Sunjik's eyes widened slightly at my words.

"Do you believe... no, do you think I possess that level of skill?"

I curled the corners of my mouth into a smirk.

"Who told you to fight him?"

"...?"

"You know that thing you're good at. I'm asking you to use that to stop him."

"Something I'm good at?"

Cheol Sunjik asked back, seemingly curious for the first time.

"Inciting people and driving them to the edge of a cliff. Making them jump into a pit of fire on their own. You're good at that sort of thing."

"Representative Jin..."

Cheol Sunjik glared at me with eyes full of dissatisfaction.

But so what?

It wasn't like I was making things up.

That was his original specialty, after all.

However, Cheol Sunjik's glare remained fierce.

Phew, it couldn't be helped.

"Alright, I'll be generous. I'll give you eight pun."

Of course, no matter how easy it was for Cheol Sunjik, he wouldn't act for cheap given the risks involved.

A guy like him would try to extort at least three to four tenths.

So keeping the negotiation under three tenths was key.

I needed at least seven tenths of the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Milk to make a hundred spiritual pills.

"I'm not telling you to risk your life fighting, just make them fight each other. It's not that hard of a job for you either."

"... You make it sound easy, but do you have any idea how difficult that is?"

I knew he would say that.

I didn't know what he had come in to see, but a quick calculator like Cheol Sunjik wouldn't be the type to miss a chance at obtaining a spiritual elixir.

As expected, he wasn't going to be a pushover.

"Alright, then I'll be generous and..."

"One tenth."

"Huh?"

What was this guy saying?

I tilted my head, wondering if I had misheard.

Then, he continued speaking.

"If you obtain the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Milk, Representative Jin, give me one tenth of it. Then I will block this unknown person for you."

What was this? There was absolutely no way this bastard Cheol Sunjik would act like this.

He must have already finished calculating his profit and loss in his head the moment I proposed the deal.

... Yet he was only demanding one tenth?

Just what was going on?

Just as I was about to ask Cheol Sunjik something more,

"... Eldest Senior Brother."

Dongryong grabbed my arm with a deathly pale face.

Damn it, have they already gotten this close?

I couldn't fathom what Cheol Sunjik was plotting, but since I couldn't afford to delay any longer, I had to just roll with it for now.

"Fine. One tenth."

When I held out my hand as a sign of our verbal agreement, Cheol Sunjik grabbed it.

Then he stared at me intently.

Did this guy seriously eat something wrong...

"... Make sure you survive... and keep your promise."

Why was he saying something so ominous at the end?

"Understood."

... He truly was an unlikable bastard.

* * *

TAP TAP TAP.

Watching Jin Sowoon's group run off in the opposite direction, Cheol Sunjik let out a small sigh.

'What in the world is he thinking?'

And what was up with wearing iron rings on their hands and feet in a life-or-death situation?

It had long been proven that training with sandbags was useless for warriors who used internal energy.

From one to ten, he was a completely incomprehensible person.

Whenever he hung around him, he felt himself becoming strange too.

To think he'd haggle over an item he hadn't even obtained yet.

'But why did I negotiate?'

The moment one thought was about to lead to another.

SWISH.

He had no choice but to forcibly stop.

He didn't know who the 'bothersome guy' Jin Sowoon mentioned was, but he could feel the presence of someone with a grim aura approaching.

"Good grief..."

A chuckle leaked out.

Just from the presence felt from afar, this was clearly someone far above average.

Yet he merely called him a 'bothersome guy.'

Cheol Sunjik tapped the shoulder of a warrior standing in front of him.

To the man who turned his head in confusion, he spoke in a low voice.

"Could you listen to me for a moment?"

If he wanted to see whether the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Milk would truly end up in his hands just like he said, there was no time to delay.

* * *

The small palm force that the idiot from Zhongnan shot off earlier created an immense ripple inside Cheondong Cave.

"It's blocked here too."

"Eldest Senior Brother, this way is blocked too."

"Here too..."

Thanks to that idiot, we were just going around in circles on the same paths inside Cheondong Cave.

On top of that, because we kept avoiding encounters with anyone from Zhongnan, we were struggling to get any closer to the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Milk.

As the time for the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Milk to appear drew near, anxiety began to set in.

To have painstakingly set the board this far and not even be able to eat the prize.

It was obvious I'd be so bitter I wouldn't be able to sleep properly for half a year.

"Let's rest for now."

They said more haste, less speed.

I had my junior disciples take a break for the time being.

Because this rest might perhaps be our last.

"Eldest Senior Brother, can't we just fight our way through?"

Dongryong spoke cautiously.

He looked like he was needlessly worrying whether he might come across as a bloodthirsty demon crazed for battle.

However, the other junior disciples didn't look much different.

To these guys, whose skills had exponentially increased through the academy, the fourth- or third-generation disciples of Zhongnan wouldn't seem like very difficult opponents.

"We shouldn't fight. We have to subdue them."

"... Pardon?"

Dongryong tilted his head, seemingly failing to understand.

"None of the personnel from Zhongnan can die in this struggle."

"..."

"They can't even suffer severe injuries."

"... Why?"

Dongryong rolled his eyes around, completely unable to comprehend.

At that moment, Eunho, who had been in thought, blurted out.

"Justification."

"Right."

It was a fact that Zhongnan had tried to lock down Cheondong Cave and monopolize the spiritual elixir for absurd reasons.

But if a Zhongnan disciple died here, that would become a completely different story.

"If a Zhongnan disciple dies, whatever Zhongnan is doing right now won't even matter. And Zhongnan will resort to any means necessary to extract a price in blood. What's more, everyone who entered here is recorded by the Beggars' Sect. It will even impact their own sects."

"... Eek!"

At the mention that it would negatively impact their sect, Dongryong's face turned deathly pale again.

He looked like a child who had just been told a tiger would come out in the middle of the night.

"Most of the people who entered Cheondong Cave probably know that too. Furthermore, this place is no different from Zhongnan's front yard. Zhongnan would suffer a severe blow to their pride if a disciple of theirs died here. And there's no telling how much blood would flow to satisfy that pride."

We couldn't kill Zhongnan, but Zhongnan could kill us.

It was a truly shitty situation, but it couldn't be helped.

This was politics.

This was the structure of how the world turned.

It was cruel, but it was a truth these children needed to know.

Only then would they be able to grasp how to survive in this cruel world.

"So it's best to avoid Zhongnan's disciples whenever possible. Do you understand?"

Feeling guilty for even asking the question, Dongryong nodded.

It was slowly becoming time for the warriors who entered through the third entrance to meet Zhongnan's disciples.

The previously complacent Zhongnan would learn the fact that outsiders had entered, and once the information spread throughout Zhongnan, it was obvious they would move their disciples to stop them.

If there was any silver lining, it was that Zhongnan didn't know where the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Milk would appear.

That was likely the reason Zhongnan had scattered their disciples all over the cave.

They could gather their scattered disciples to block the outside warriors, but one could say this slightly lowered the chances of Zhongnan discovering the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Milk when it appeared in the meantime.

'On top of that, their hands will slowly be tied as well.'

One of the reasons I broke open the third entrance was precisely because the more outside eyes there were, the less bold Zhongnan's movements could be.

If they were bastards who had trespassed into their sect without permission, there would be no problem with beating them to death, but if Zhongnan—who claimed they sealed off Cheondong Cave to reduce casualties—beat people to death just for entering Cheondong Cave without permission, wouldn't that cause its own set of problems?

I closed my eyes and focused my internal energy into my ears.

From quite a distance away, the clashing of weapons and people's screams rang out.

The moment I had been waiting for had finally come.

I pulled masks out of my bundle one by one and handed them to my junior disciples.

"Now we're becoming thieves in earnest."

Eunho made a brief joke before putting on his mask.

His guts were growing bigger by the day; it was very much like him.

I also hurriedly pulled my mask on.

Since I had already caught the Beggars' Sect's eye, I wouldn't be able to completely hide my identity, but shouldn't I at least show enough sincerity to be able to feign ignorance?

"Let's move out."

I helped my junior disciples up and advanced once again.

Now that a fight had broken out, the disciples would start moving, and if the disciples moved, the ones scattered throughout the cave would flock to one place.

And my prediction hit the mark.

'Well, not a perfect mark, though.'

I could feel presences in the targeted cave, but the numbers were distinctly low.

'Two of them...'

Considering that six disciples originally made up a single group, this was an incredibly favorable condition.

Furthermore, we absolutely had to pass through here to get to the cave where the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Milk would appear.

If we didn't take this path, we would have to take a long detour.

As long as the opponents weren't first-generation disciples, it was worth a shot.

Looking at the group compositions of Zhongnan we had seen on our way here, there was no way there would be two or more first-generation disciples.

Having finished my calculations, I looked at Dongryong and sent a sound transmission.

"Use Turtle Breath Footwork to approach and subdue them in one fell swoop. They'll probably be on maximum alert too, so you must aim for their weak points to suppress them."

Just as Dongryong was about to move at my command.

Perhaps bothered by making the youngest, Dongryong, do such a task, Saryeon tried to step forward.

I shook my head.

"Dongryong must do this. He is the sharpest sword among us."

When Saryeon bit her lip tightly, Dongryong nodded as if to say he was fine.

They might not understand at all.

Why I would make a young junior brother do this.

But if receiving their incomprehension and hatred meant I could keep them alive, I didn't care what kind of filth I had to cover myself in.

'I would much rather see their faces contorted in contempt than look at their stiff, dead corpses.'

I steeled my resolve and slowly moved forward alongside Dongryong.

Long shadows wavering from a small torch flickered at our feet.

I nodded toward Dongryong, who was holding his heavy saber, and in that instant, Dongryong and I lunged at our opponents in a flash.

In the blink of an eye, Dongryong's blade pierced his opponent's ankle, while my sword stabbed into the other opponent's vital acupoints. They wouldn't die, but it would be hard for them to fight any longer.

SLASH!

SLASH!

However, the blood and flesh that should have clearly been visible were nowhere to be seen.

"...!"

Only torn scraps of cloth and strands of hair fluttered in the air.

The problem was that the opponents were already thrusting their swords through the scattering cloth and hair.

SWOOSH.

Using the Iron Bridge technique, I narrowly dodged the sword and pulled Dongryong back.

Though we weren't injured, portions of Dongryong's and my clothes were cut away.

At that moment.

"Who is it? Who dares fearlessly interfere in Zhongnan's affairs?"

A low, overbearing voice rang out.

Figures gradually becoming clear.

Two middle-aged men with white hairs beginning to show among their black hair.

"We heard outsiders had entered, but did you ambush us even knowing we are from Zhongnan?"

Despite being ambushed, there was absolutely no sign of displeasure.

And.

'Damn it...'

Rather, their lack of agitation felt even more imposing.

Not panicking in an emergency meant they had experienced enough dangerous situations of this caliber.

I had hoped so desperately that they wouldn't be first-generation disciples.

'To think they're Hall Leader-class.'

This was going to get a bit bothersome.

It was certain that the Demon God bastard's curse was still stuck to my body.